Seattle Press on Line - Seattle's Surprising Home School Support System

Seattle's Surprising Home School Support System

By Patricia Stambor

Feb 21, 2001 -- Conservatively dressed in a blue blazer and coordinated skirt, soft-spoken yet with business-like professionalism, Cynthia Barrientos didn't quite fit the profile of the non-conformist educator I was prepared to meet when I requested an interview with the Director of the Seattle Public Schools Homeschool Resource Center (HRC).

I visited the HRC on a snowy February morning. Too excited to stay indoors, many of the students ranging in ages from 5 to 17 were stealing a few minutes from class time for a good-natured snowball fight just outside the school's doors. No teacher tried to force them back to class. After about ten minutes, rosy-cheek and laughing, all the kids willingly filed back into the building eager to start learning. No blue tardy slips were in order.

HRC, located at the former Crown Hill Elementary School, was the brainchild of the late Seattle School District Superintendent John Stanford and a few other visionaries, including current Superintendent Joseph Olchefsky.

"After looking at the numbers and realizing that there were between 400 and 500 registered homeschoolers within Seattle, Stanford decided it was time do something for them," says Barrientos. Approximately 150 students signed up when the Center opened its doors nearly three years ago.

Barrientos, who wasn't around in the beginning, gives lots of credit to the people who initially worked hard to set up the program. "It wasn't an easy task reaching out to the homeschool community, many of whom are independent and prefer not to be associated with what they perceive as an authoritarian public school system."

As the new director of HRC, Barrientos brings a unique blend of experience to her challenging new job. She was instrumental in developing alternative education programs dating back to her high school years in the San Francisco public schools. She is also an accredited teacher and has taught in a traditional public school setting. Before taking the job at HRC she worked as a corporate manager developing and marketing educational training programs (often used by homeschoolers). Barrientos says when a friend urged her to apply for the job she took one look at the qualifications needed and knew it was a "perfect fit."

Not wanting to mislead me or sell the program with jargon about the Center's educational philosophy, Barrientos makes it clear that homeschooling is not for everyone. "Often families and students, unhappy with their previous school experience, come to us out of desperation. We certainly don't turn any student away, but if they haven't homeschooled, we require they first go through a 90-day trial period and a one-on-one meeting with a homeschool counselor before we allow them to take classes here. They may decide after trying it that homeschooling is not the right choice for them. If that's the case, there are lots of other alternatives within the Seattle public school system."

Technically, HRC is not a school but a "resource center" where parents can bring their children for classes in subjects that they feel they are not qualified or are unwilling to teach themselves. Parents, however, take the responsibility for developing their children's educational curriculum, with the help (if they so choose) of the resources and classes available at the Center. The course listing at HRC includes a variety of classes based on the demands of the school population. Nearly three pages long, the course listing includes subjects in high school chemistry, math, foreign languages, computers, papier mache, drawing, martial arts, journalism, and drama, and many other subjects.

After a tour of the HRC with Barrientos, I was allowed to wander the halls, visit classes in session, and speak with the parents and some of the kids. Most of the classes I visited had no more than 15 students and many had what seemed an unusual but workable age-range of students. For example, middle-school and high-school kids were in the same science and language classes I observed.

Expecting to meet only counterculture extremists or self-righteous "faith-based" homeschoolers, I approached a natural-looking mother who greeted me with an engaging and welcoming smile, and asked for an interview. Jo Simonian, a forty-something mother accompanied by one her sons (a seemingly well-adjusted and articulate pre-teen boy), led us to what she thought would be a quiet corner to talk. No sooner did we sit down than were we surrounded by other mothers with children, and a few unattached teenage kids, who all enthusiastically offered their reasons for homeschooling.

After listening for about 15 minutes, I prepared to move on but not before Jo, who never had an opportunity to talk to me, tugged on my shoulder and gave me her reason for homeschooling. "I do it because I like being around my kids. It's a life-style choice and a learning style that works for them and me."

When I asked Jo if she homeschooled for religious reasons, she explained that she is a life-long atheist. When she initially came to HRC she was put off by some of the attitudes of the religious families at the Center, but she has since learned that are "very nice people." "I realized that they also want a certain type of education for their children, just as long as they keep it to themselves."

What does Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Olchefsky think about HRC? Barrientos says he visited the school last fall and was so impressed that he wants to open a center in South Seattle for those families in the south end who don't want to make the long drive to Crown Hill.

The Seattle School District gets two thumbs up for its willingness to "think outside the box" and trust these dedicated parents and students (who are often marginalized in society for their independent streak) to meet district and state educational standards on their own terms.

After a day of watching an unusual blend of teachers, parents, and kids working and learning together, I enviously drove away wishing my parents had done the same for me. The Seattle Public Schools Homeschool Resource Center is located at 9502 14th Ave. NW. For more information or a guided tour, call 706-4271.

Reader Comments

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Marda Kirkwood	Feb 26, 2001	Kent, WA	homeschooling mom
The reporter missed a very critical point about these centers. Once a student is enrolled, he/she is no longer a homeschooler, but a parttime public school student. The parents cede their homeschooling rights to the school, whihc then becomes responsible for the child's education. These centers are governed under Alternative Education law established for academically at-risk children. This may be an alternative form of public education, but it is NOT homeschooling.


Julie	Aug 07, 2002	Seattle	Homeschool parent
We have been homeschooling for about 4 years and the one thing I have learned is that homeshcooling is about choices/options. There are many ways to homeshcool and taking classes at a resourse center is just one of many possible options. Our family happens to utilize the Seattle Public School's Homeschool Resource Center and we consider it part of our homeschooling options. We utilize other community and neighborhood options to provide for a well rounded homeshcool education. Yes we do utilize a homeschool resourse center option and yes you better believe it, "We are homeschoolers". The Seattle Homeschool Resource Center has been a fine enhancement to our own homeschool life. Thank you, Julie Willaford


Linda Dambacher	Oct 30, 2002	Michigan	teacher
I grew up in the Highline School District. I have spent the past 10 years homeschooling after working as a classroom teacher. I am now in a school district that is open to considering including options for homeschoolers in their alternative ed. program. I wrote a proposal that simply stated that homeschool students could be in a self-contained classroom for core subjects then attend electives. Now I've found your web site and others. I would like info on how to organize a center within the school system that serves the homeschool families in the county. (Yes, I would like to be the teacher....) I want to see if an all day program or the check-in system would work better for our district and families. Any advice, examples, and info. that you could direct me to would be greatly appreciated! Thank you


Maggie De Laurentis	Nov 06, 2002	Seattle,WA	Homemaker
I understand that if you chose to homeschool, under Wasington state law, you must first send a form. Declarariton of intent to the superintendent of your district. If you do not file, your child is either in the public school system or truant. Once you have declared that you will be homeschooling. The Seattle public school system loses 4 to 5 thousand dollars per student that leaves the system. However under the homeschooling law you can take advantage of a course and any ancillary services provided by the public school system. I'm not sure but I think that must include the HR Center. Check www.washhomeschool.org (washington homeschooling organization)for more info. What is clear to me is that parents care very much and want what's in the best intrest of their children. And that's Great, because the children win.


Jason_C	Feb 25, 2003	Lake Forest Park, WA	Director, Northshore Charter S
My perspective on part of the issue is a combination of the first two discussion entries posted by Marda Kirkwood and Julie. Being enrolled in a home school resource center like HRC is not home schooling in and of itself. Home schooling means taking advantage of consciously selected educational resources available to you. HRC is just one of these resources. It works for some and it doesn't work for others. Families need to make the decision to exercise their option to take advantage of such programs based on specific, individual needs of their children. Jason Colberg Director, Northshore Charter School http://www.scienceolympiad.com P.S. - HRC is not the brainchild of John Stanford, Joseph Olchefsky and a few other visionaries. Programs like HRC, which are also available in most Seattle metropolitan school districts, are the result of a regional response to a growing number of families who are voting with their feet, asserting their rights and leaving an outdated educational system.


Anonymous	May 26, 2003	seattle, WA
Although any publicity regarding an option like homeschooling is better than none, I would like to comment on the bias and prejudice clearly exhibited by the reporter in this article. All objectivity is lost when one reads phrases such as "a seemingly well-adjusted and articulate pre-teen boy" and "when I asked if she homeschooled for religious reasons". Would it not have been more appropriate to simply observe and investigate? As a parent and teacher who has recently converted to homeschooling (pardon the religious terminology), I cannot think of a better way to educate young people than homeschooling. Isn't it parents who are supposed to be raising their children? Many argue that homeschooling is the utmost form of Un-American subversion. My answer is yes and no. American? - yes - if American means freedom to learn and believe and choose. Subversive to a conformist system which undermines true learning?- Yes. Subversive to democracy? NO WAY! Ask yourself, why is the current generation of young people so apathetic? Why is a homeschooler still considered a friek when a entire school system in Oregon is shutting school down three weeks early because they ran out of funds? We need to wake up and face the glaring deficencies of our schooling systems and take responsibility for nurturing our own. For further discussion of these topics, see "Teaching Your Own" by John Holt; originally written 20 years ago, and now updated by a new generation of homeschoolers.